A bill of materials (BOM) is a complete list of the parts or other items which make up a particular product to be manufactured or which otherwise need to be supplied to an entity. A BOM typically identifies a number of parts and each part may have an associated part number, a requested quantity, and possibly other information used to describe each part. As referred to herein, the term “BOM” may refer to a single file that includes this information or may refer to multiple types of files that collectively include this information, such as a BOM and an approved supplier list (ASL). The BOM may be organized by sub-assemblies, such that BOM includes descriptions of each sub-assembly, the parts that are included in each sub-assembly, and how the sub-assemblies relate to the finished product. Therefore, a BOM is often an essential part of a logistics management process associated with developing and manufacturing a product. An ASL may have information on approved suppliers for each item in a BOM. For example, each item in a BOM may have multiple associated records that each identify a part from a particular manufacturer that corresponds to the item in the BOM.
Inaccurate information in the BOM, such as an incorrect or unknown part number, can create a number of problems for the entity generating the BOM (to have a product manufactured or to obtain parts to be used in the manufacture of a product) and for the entity that responds to the BOM and manufactures the product according to the BOM or provides parts listed in the BOM. These problems include, but are not limited to, incorrect costing and pricing of a product, inaccurate part inventory levels, accounting variances, production of defective or out-of-spec products, and losses associated with customer dissatisfaction and potential product liability claims associated with defective or out-of-spec products.